If There’s One Body Part to Care for This Year, Let It Be Your Hands

Now more than ever, there’s a focus on hands. You can blame the shift south from the face and neck on engagement season, or on the unavoidable nail-art selfies filling feeds everywhere. Either way, fists have been thrust into the spotlight. And why not? After all, faces get brighter and younger-looking with each coming season, thanks to evolving skin-care technology; there’s no time like the New Year to commit to having the best-looking hands of your life.

“Our hands are constantly exposed to the elements,” says New York City–based dermatologist Francesca Fusco, M.D., calling out harsh soaps, antibacterial lather, varying climates, and sunlight as the root causes. Most anti-aging routines include a slathering of excess serum and moisturizer onto the neck, décolleté, and earlobes, she says, but even the most thorough of patients often overlook the tops of the hands, causing a noticeable age difference between the areas.

“Extreme temperatures tend to leech moisture out of the skin,” she continues, “so during the winter, our hands look worse.” Start by swapping generic, stripping soap for a mild formula, like Cetaphil, and “follow immediately with a moisturizer.” Fusco also recommends tossing a travel-size cream packed with SPF in your bag for on-the-go application, especially when hitting the nail salon, as gel manicures require brief exposure to ultraviolet rays. And don’t forget to exfoliate: No matter how hydrating the moisturizer, “the product won’t penetrate if there’s a buildup of dead skin cells,” she says, suggesting scrubbing hands once a week with a readily available facial exfoliator for a primed and prepped base.

While there are many solutions to treat and reverse damage brought on by environmental factors—hands can suffer from fine lines, pigmentation, uneven texture, and enlarged veins—Fusco advises all patients to take a few preventative measures to ensure happy and healthy hands all season long. Whatever your concern, there’s a solution.

Brown Spots and PigmentationDue to year-round prolonged sun exposure from daily activities, hands, like faces, are extra susceptible to spots. To lighten and brighten the area, Fusco prescribes a weekly LED light therapy session that “heals and neutralizes free radicals in the skin” in conjunction with a biweekly hardworking peel. “Glycolic and lactic acid peels can dramatically reduce the appearance of dark patches,” she says. Consider Glytone’s new in-office solution, formulated especially for the hands, or for a full spot overhaul, look to a resurfacing laser. “Fraxel 1927 goes directly after spots,” she says, warning that once treated, dark pigmentations can appear darker and more pronounced before flaking off in a week.

Wrinkles and Aged SkinWhile peels are also beneficial in diminishing the appearance of fine lines, at-home or in-office micro-needling can also be helpful in stimulating the growth of new skin. The 15-minute session promotes the regeneration of collagen by physically wounding the area with a series of needles. When undergoing the treatment at a doctor’s office, Fusco recommends topically adding platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, to the equation as a second step; it’s rich with proteins that will help blood to clot as well as support cell growth.

Undesirable VeinsPerhaps one of the most common issues when it comes to hand health is enlarged veins, which are largely due to thin skin and a loss of elasticity with age. Veins may become dark and prominent but “can be camouflaged with the help of injections,” says Fusco. To physically plump skin from the inside out, she turns to Radiesse, a common fine-line filler that is so powerful, it is only needed once a year. For a more permanent solution, which requires more recovery time, unwanted veins can also be removed by a vascular specialist. And if you’re in need of a quick, photo-ready fix, Fusco advises lathering on a thick layer of hand cream and holding your hand up high in the air, so the blood drains from the hand, leaving veins to appear less prominent. Here’s to happy, healthy hands (and better Instagram posts) in 2018.